NEW YORK- US 10-year Treasury yields rose on Friday, reversing earlier declines after comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell indicated the central bank could be patient in determining when to cut interest rates.
Powell said the Fed does not need to be in a hurry to cut rates and it remains to be seen whether the Trump administration’s tariff plans will prove to be inflationary, while also listing other factors that could cause price pressures to become more persistent.
“Fewer rate cuts is less of a concern to the markets right now than the economic impact tariffs could potentially impose on the economy,” said Lindsey Bell, chief market strategist at Clearnomics, New York.
“Because of Powell’s assessment of the economy in a good place, investors are finding solace in that.”
Yields had dipped earlier in the session after a reading on the labor market pushed up market expectations for the amount of rate cuts from the Federal Reserve this year.
The Labor Department said nonfarm payrolls increased by 151,000 jobs last month, just below the 160,000 estimate of economists polled by Reuters, after rising by a downwardly revised 125,000 in January. The jobless rate ticked up to 4.1 percent from 4.0 percent in January.
